


Waterbender Escape

by TheBlueAvocado27



Series: AtLA prequel idea dump [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Airbending & Airbenders, Escape, Pre-Avatar: The Last Airbender, Waterbending & Waterbenders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-18 11:06:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8159990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBlueAvocado27/pseuds/TheBlueAvocado27
Summary: Just a test of a character I'm working on, prequel to AtLA sort of, I'll probably write quite a bit more on this character and my vision of how that world was a thousand or so years in the past, but for now I just wanted to get something down.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not great at writing these things, it still feels very clunky, but that's why I have this account, so criticize anything and everything you can find, I need input xD

A dark blue sky is broken by the full moon, harsh white light illuminating the desert as if it were day. Amid the dunes lies a massive cylindrical stone, at its center a cage, supporting sandstone columns interspersed with smaller metal bars. The cage supports the top half of the stone, sand occasionally blowing off in the wind, falling onto the heads of the robed watchers. Standing outside the cave facing inward, these robed and hooded guardians betrayed no emotion, only staring ceaselessly at the man who lies inside. 

Shirtless, the man worked, doing clap push ups, the most intensive workout available within the constraints of the two thick chains which went from the man’s wrists to the outside of the cage, where they embedded themselves deep within the rock. The man was silent, barely breathing, still ceaselessly doing pushups as his overgrown silvery hair became slick with sweat, his body soon following suit. The watchers stood unmoving, but you could sense their worry; this was not the prisoner’s normal routine. Finally, panting despite himself, the prisoner stopped, sitting back and moving himself into a meditative pose in a single elegant movement. The man’s fingers twitched, and, invisible to his guards, a trickle of sweat began to move from his hair down his arm, soon joined by others. As soon as the trickle became large enough to be seen it seemingly evaporated, but the man’s fingers still twitched as he started to become noticeably drier. 

Suddenly he leaned forward, his long hair eclipsing the slight smile as he stood onto his feet. The guards tensed, readying themselves, not noticing as a swirling circle of steam appears at the base of one of the chains, making it red hot. The circle, spinning rapidly, now turns to water as the chain link gets white hot and then suddenly there are sparks and a blur of movement and the prisoner is at the center of a whirling storm of air, each of the guards blasting him in sync, rendering him barely capable of any motion, let alone any waterbending. But the chain was already in motion, and lashing out it grabbed a guard by the neck, breaking his body on the bars as the chain is whipped back, the man’s hair now flying as he pulls the snapped body towards him, still barely able to move. The body reaches the man and appears to explode, streams of crimson bursting from the eyes and mouth of the guard as the silver haired man moves his arm upwards in an arcing motion, and then the red falls away and the clean water is visible for a brief moment, the body, now sucked dry, hits the floor and crumbles and then the water becomes steam and everything is white. 

A white hot glow is visible in the otherwise muffling fog and then a chain whips out, arcs of water running through the links as another guard is taken. The remaining guards funnel the steam out in a whirlwind of air, but it is too late, the man in the center has disappeared. The guards step back away from the cage and then run, dashing haphazardly down the makeshift steps carved into the side of the bottom of the stone. They turn about once they reach their craft and behold on top of the cage-stone the last sight they’ll see, the silhouette of a man on top of the rock, the full moon shining behind him as the two tendrils of water snake through the chains, creating tendrils dark and deadly. 

The figure leaps, a chain hitting the back of the sand boat as the airbenders try to start it and then the figure is among them. One shoots a blast of air which is dodged nimbly, the man leaping up with the support of his chains before propelling himself over the airbender, grabbing him and snapping his neck. In an instant the poor man’s body is drained, streams of blood turning to water and then joining the tendris, enhancing their strength. The other two guards look on in fear and horror, the sand boat totally stopped as the moon is visible behind the dark figure once again and he breathes in, his deathly pale face torn apart by a brutally elated grin, his tongue tasting freedom for the first time.


End file.
